We had 48 hours. Make a round trip to Atlanta, Georgia, from DFW, in a Sportage. Retrieve a very specific desk from IKEA, and make it back in one piece. Optionally, visit some new cities and squeeze in exercise while driving over 1600 miles.
Expanding on this a bit … after yearly relocations for the past several years, accompanied by downsizing in line with The More of Less, one of our party had finally hit the point where furniture consolidation dictated getting rid of the two desk combination from Container Store and IKEA. To replace the work desk and the music desk with one piece of furniture was going to require some inventive squeezing, and after a long search, IKEA won again with … FREDDE.
Continue reading Midnight Train to Georgia →
On the second weekend in May, a trip to Slaton, Texas, was in order. Has anyone ever said that? Why Slaton? A race (or for us, a run / jog), of course. The West Texas Running Club organized a run in Horseshoe Bend Canyon, a hole in the ground southeast of Lubbock. We signed up for the 11 mile distance, thinking that wouldn’t be too difficult after running a few half marathons earlier in the year. As a bonus, an event in West Texas would allow for a side trip to visit with a college student in Lubbock. The best laid plans …
Continue reading The Misery of Mile Nine →
It was the year of the half marathons. That was the plan anyway. We had made progress – Austin in February, Michigan in April and now it was time to accomplish Nevada. Conveniently, a work trip at the end of May allowed us to book a flight a few days prior, and we were able to register for the Mt. Charleston half, a race organized by a group called Revel. This worked out well, since Mt. Charleston was on our hiking bucket list. Having spent some time in exploring Red Rocks about nine months ago, we were familiar with the area.
Continue reading Downhill Marathons are for Dummies →
More like, running in hell, or running uphill in hell, or .. you get the idea. After multiple rounds of the 13.1 mile run (Dallas, Cowtown, LSRC Spring Half), on our way to the Gorges Half, we met Jack the bartender in Scranton, PA. After describing our aspirations to run up big hills in Ithaca, Jack suggested we should consider the Steamtown Marathon, an evidently well-known event that lets people qualify for the Boston Marathon by providing a 26.2 mile downhill event with over 1000 feet of elevation drop on the course. For those of you who don’t run, 26.2 miles is a looooong way, and going downhill the entire distance makes a lot of difference in how fast you can get through that. Probably a combination of exhaustion, drinks, and lack of common sense had us agreeing that we would be back for Steamtown in 2016.
Continue reading Running Like Hell →
“Do you have a death wish?” inquired my teenager when I informed him of upcoming plans to visit this particular city. “Do you know where… and what Detroit is?” a parent demanded. Similar questions were directed to my co-traveler – “You realize that’s the murder capital of the United States?”
Continue reading Motor City Laun Mat! →
We're running all over the place …
graveyardsandghosttowns 